Forums

In-Game RolePlay Guide & Help Thread is sticky

Quick find code: 237-238-981-65868000

RiDaku
Oct Member 2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,003 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Right to choose : A player has the right to choose not to role-play with a certain character or other player whose standards conflict with his own. That is to say, if one player does not enjoy participating in a game that includes another player he has trouble cooperating with, or a specific character that conflicts with his interpretation of lore, or another similar circumstance where participation will lead to more headache than enjoyment, that one player has a free pass to not participate and the metagaming rule is suspended to allow his character to be absent without consequence, even if the absence is out of character. This unofficial standard is intended as a form of harm-reduction to help all parties enjoy their role-playing experiences more. On the other end of this rule, players are expected not to abuse this choice simply as a way of getting out of otherwise-legitimate negative effects on their characters (i.e, death). Additionally, it should be a last-option choice. It's always better to have mutual understanding with fellow players than to avoid them. Don't let rumors or first-impressions of people deter you. See for yourself if a person is fun to play with or not.

Line limit : It is a benefit to the flow of play for one to adjust how much they write in accordance to how many players are in a scene. The general concept is that one can write more with less people, and write less with more people. This isn't to say your actions have to be boring in large groups, they just can't be long. When this rule isn't observed it tends to make the chat log difficult to follow in large groups.

First Come, First Serve : It is generally observed that an area for a scene "belongs" to the first people there in the case of scaling (detailed a few posts down). The latter people to come and use it for a different setting are expected to hop worlds to avoid interrupting.
The Sicarius |
They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:09:54 - Last edited on 09-Jan-2017 02:58:55 by RiDaku

RiDaku
Oct Member 2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,003 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Meta-Disrespect: While it exists under the umbrella term of Metagaming, it's become an increasingly common thing in several RP communities, and this addition was inspired by a tumblr post I read. Summarized, this is putting OOC disrespect in to your IC actions . Dismissal of a character's story feats and reputation, or heavily down-playing a character's attempt to be frightening/intimidating/threatening/cute/smart (regardless of how good the actual writer is at portraying it) without due process (IE, proper story elements lead to the attempt failing instead of you not finding it to work on you as an OOC reader). Breaking the suspension of disbelief and taking agency from a roleplayer simply because you don't feel like putting in effort to keep the scene consistent. It's one of the most effective, and most destructive, ways to ensure that someone will have no interest in writing with you in the future, so if that's your goal, then here's the cheat code. Otherwise, be mindful of doing this. Exceptions occur in situations where the character is being clearly disrespectful, but the author contradicts their muse. Example;

He stood up in the face of this evil, even though it was kind of stupid to anyone watching since the guy was super powerful, and spit at him, “I’ll end you.” He stood strong, unaware at any second the man could crush his spine by thinking it.

For a more in-depth look at Meta-Disrespect, google "Character Meta-Disrespect", a post by RPedia.
The Sicarius |
They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:09:54 - Last edited on 15-May-2020 21:31:33 by RiDaku

RiDaku
Oct Member 2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,003 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Text Vs. Gameplay

Here in the roleplay worlds, you will find that there is a preference for roleplay rooted in text over roleplay rooted in gameplay. This is mainly because of the following: Support for roleplay has been, and is ...abysmal at best. The most we have got in the way of official support is a message on login (that has no consequence if not followed) and the ability to set our examine status to "Roleplaying In-Character". We can hardly even actually sit in any chairs in the game world (see page 4 for more). So on and so forth. We do not begrudge that, because the game in of itself is still fun, but because of the divide between the game world and canon world, it is a challenge to both simultaneously participate in most game activities whilst we roleplay.

But this is not to say that, because of the principle that little consideration has ever been provided to players like us, that all game mechanics are irreconcilable with what we do. There is nothing wrong with actually fishing whilst in character, or woodcutting, slaying, or just in general letting your skill levels integrate into your writing.

In example; I have 99 Slayer and my main character is a master of slaying so I wear the skillcape - Sometimes I use emotes with speech - I am willing to be I.C while PvM'ing - I am also willing to be I.C with less grindy skills - I even enjoy group RP in Dungeoneering.

But in contrast, as mentioned before, not everything fits with roleplay. This is because game mechanics can have a tendency to be at odds with canon and logic. Even fantasy worlds have some sliver of logic. For example, the Godwars Dungeon doesn't really make a lot of sense because you can continually kill NPCs that show in later quests. That directly doesn't make any sense. Or, who even wants to be I.C while training a skill requiring lots of bank runs? Point is, if you wish to do more than write alone, some discretion is required to keep it smooth.
The Sicarius |
They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:09:54 - Last edited on 15-May-2020 20:42:51 by RiDaku

RiDaku
Oct Member 2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,003 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Scaling

Scaling, often used in the context of land-scaling or time-scaling, is a practice in public roleplaying that allows players to circumnavigate many technicalities that otherwise inhibit desired scenarios or plot/character progressions. The core idea of this practice is that, because game mechanics are limited and built for traditional gameplay rather than roleplaying, the roleplayers must take it upon themselves to manipulate the given setting in creative ways to meet their needs and desires.

Land Scaling

In the context of "land-scaling," this can mean one of two things:

- A given area that exists in the live game has been duplicated

- An area that does not actually exist in the live game is implied to exist somewhere relative to the live map

So, for example, a roleplayer who wished to play in a spirit realm may wish to represent the landscape with the Runespan. Since the Runespan is not actually the desired spirit realm and their characters may even have trouble accessing it without the Runecrafting Guild's permission, all players involved would land-scale the area by agreeing preemptively that they all understand their characters are not in the Runespan, but rather are in a parallel spirit realm which happens to look a lot like the Runespan.

Another example of land-scaling is the Renderran Isles. This location does not actually exist in the live game, and is not particularly similar to any known city. Instead, it is represented by a carefully tailored player-owned house. However, the roleplayers involved with this location don't wish for their backdrop to actually be just a fancy house, and as a result agree to land-scale the location. In doing this, they agree that the backdrop is not a house, but rather is representing a location on a set of isles in the open sea off the coast of Yanille.

[cont. below]
The Sicarius |
They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:13:46 - Last edited on 15-May-2020 20:42:01 by RiDaku

RiDaku
Oct Member 2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,003 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Time Scaling

In the context of "time-scaling," this most often means one of two things:

- The player is aging his character at a speed independent of the passage of time in-game or in the real world
- A given event in-character is not taking place in chronological order

For example, a role-player with a vampyric character wishes for his character to advance in strength and rank over the foreseeable future. Because a vampyre's age is often heavily tied with his power and the respect he is given by his peers, a vampyre that ages normally at a ratio of one year in-character to one year in the real world is not likely to ever progress, as aging doesn't become very significant for vampyres until centuries start to pass. So, to enable the desired development, that role-player may start to age his vampyre at a rate of 100 years in-character for every one year or one month in the real world. In other words, once a month that player would add 100 years to his vampyre's age, or would add 1200 years to the vampyre's age once a year. Due to the oddities that may occur as side effect, it is best to avoid age-scaling if possible. Additionally, it is confirmed that time flow in game is directly correspondent to real time, rather than time seemingly being at a stand still in the Fifth Age.

Another example of time-scaling is also known as "flash backs." If a role-player wishes to play an event in his character's lifetime (or before), but his character at present has already progressed past that event, he and any other role-players involved in the game may agree preemptively that these events are occurring at a specified time in the past (e.g. "this happened one year ago, today" ) rather than after all other events which have already occurred, like most role-play.
The Sicarius |
They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:13:46 - Last edited on 15-May-2020 20:41:21 by RiDaku

RiDaku
Oct Member 2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,003 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Clichés

While in trace amounts they can actually liven up a plotline or even individual scenes, when done in excess they become frustrating and actually detrimental to healthy roleplay. Below are some cliches that ran prevalent across the roleplay scene, that have the potential to spiral out of control again.

Antagonism: Let's discuss the elephant in the room. A long-standing belief is that in order for land-owning groups or potentially political individuals to have motivation to keep writing, they have to have something looming in the distance ready to take everything away from them. This is not necessarily wrong! However, when the horizon is blackened by the oncoming thirteen armies and rogue militias trying to take over, the reality of the situation is nobody would feel encouraged to do anything with that hanging over their head. If you enjoy being the villain, be sure to scout out the scene for a while. Talk to people, find out how many villains or opposing groups are interacting with your target. This includes antagonists set up by the protagonist group! We're not in the Dimension of Disaster, don't try to make it that way!

Assassins: This can kind-of tie in to the above, but it's different enough to warrant its own listing. Cloak-and-dagger, long-range sniping, hoods and ellipses, the dark and mysterious will never not be fun to dabble in. However this fun winds up running dry once everybody does it, or you do it too frequently. Assassins are in demand here on Gielinor, but one thing to remember is that they specialize in subtlety. Try not to look the part.
The Sicarius |
They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:13:46 - Last edited on 15-May-2020 20:40:28 by RiDaku

RiDaku
Oct Member 2012

RiDaku

Posts: 6,003 Rune Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Clichés

Zealotry: HEATHEN! You dare mock the divine fury of my God's love?! Well, yes actually, I do. Most commonly brought in the form of a White Knight but spanning every religion, the character trait of going utterly batshit the moment something minorly offensive towards the character's religion is far past tired. Sure, every religion is distinctly different from each other, but a lot of the archetypes are able to get along. For example, Saradominists and Armadyleans. Yet in practice, it's far too common to have a Saradominist attempt to behead the Armadylean for heathen worship of a false god. If religious intolerance were such a huge thing, the good Saradominist town of Lumbridge wouldn't have afforded housing to a Zamorakian family during the Battle of Lumbridge. Try to keep that in mind.
The Sicarius |
They think they are "the many", and I "the few". They think this gives them the right to walk over me.

Want to Role-Play? Click Here!

09-Jan-2017 02:13:46 - Last edited on 15-May-2020 20:38:33 by RiDaku

Quick find code: 237-238-981-65868000 Back to Top